“I grew up in Israel, where there are 20-some [political parties], each one of which knows exactly what’s right. I would say that the two-party system here [in the States] has eliminated the left and the right and largely left the middle. So if anything, the US is in an easier position … everybody is so close to the center by comparison to the range of what there is: in terms of the left, which doesn’t really exist as a politically viable option in the US, and serious fascist efforts that also don’t… okay, well. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

— Yochai Benkler, at a recent MIT forum.